DESTRUCTION OF TIMBER

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 8

DESTRUCTION OF TIMBER

WANTON AND UNWARRANTED. DOMINION'S SHORT-SIGHTED POLICY. Mr W. Ferguson, president of the Society of liingineers, in his annual address r.o the conference on.the 25th, in dealing with the question of waste, reierred to the whoie sale destruction oi. forests for the purpose of settlement. He said:'" Though there are large areas where through the richness of the land set free for pasture, or cultivation, it might be claimed that the wanton destruction of. the timber had been warranted, every one could call to mind enormous areas of poor land or hill sides and tops where the land when cleared was of comparatively small value for grazing purposes, but which, if :it had been retained under a timber crop would have produced far more wealth to the community as a forest than had been obtained from the milled timber where the bush was cut out, or from the utilisation of the. land after the fire torch had been put through it. Unfortunately the British nation had never been scientific foresters,, so that it appeared ' to the settlers and to those in authority dealing with the Crown lands that the only thing to be done was to cut out a bush and then to burn those. trees and cover that were of small value for milling purposes. Tho result had been that land best suitable for the growth of a continuous crop of timber had been destroyed for that purpose, and an attempt made to utilise it for the growth of cattle and sheep with unfavourable results. Not only had large areas, of steep lands and hill tops gone back to scrub or were now covered with fern, gorse, and other useless weeds, but in many cases owing to the removal of the natural covering the soil had been washed away, land-slips had been caused, and serious and permanent waste had resulted. Tho effect of tho wholesale removal of the • natural covering ftad resulted, as many engineers realised only too well, in a more rapid off-flow of the waters, resulting in floods and consequent devastation of the low lands, in place of, as in nature, the vegetation of the forests acting as a reservoir for retaining the rainfall and letting it off gradually over a long period of time in the form of more or less easy-flowing streams. It bad been affirmed, and ho was inclined to think proved, that the rainfall was greater in forest-coveied or vegetation clad fiireaa than ufSbn arid or sterile places. It inlght, therefore, be that in the destruction of the natural bush vegetation on the hillsides there might have been reduced the rainfall in the adjacent fertile valleys, &> that not only did the rainfall .find its way to the sea quicker but it was smaller in amount than it used to. It was not as If in New Zealand we had been blessed with illimitable forest -areas, but the position wa3 that we had long passed the point ■where the timber areas, even if now all

retained, were insufficient .to provide for tho permanent -equirements of the future inhabitants of this country for timber and wood-pulp. - Unfortunately the waste in connection with the timber industry did not cease with tha wholesale destruction of timber, that would have been more valuable if left standing, but had extended to the milling and to the uses to which the timber had been put. Owing to the heavy gauge circular saws that had been used in tho bush mills and to a lesser extent to the more permanently established mills, the waste in conversion by the undue width of the cuts and the large proportion of sawdust made had been very and unnecessarily excessive. A sawmiller speaking at a recent meting of the Forestry League fixed the proportion of sawdust made in New Zealand at from 15 to 20 per cent, of the volume of the log. To waste from oneseventh to one-fifth of the log in producing sawdust, which was itself not only wasted, but was a source of expense for its disposal, was not creditable either to those making the waste or to the authorities who permitted such waste to continue. There had also been great extravagance in the use of the timber when out; many manufacturers and others had insisted on the supply of the highest quality of timber for purposes where a lower quality would have been equally efficient, with the result that it had not commercially paid to convert second-class timber, involving in some cases its consequent waste by fire. It had to be borne in mind that the price obtained for the finished timber, as sold, had to be sufficient to cover the material that was wasted, so that through the non-utilisation of secondgrade stuff the cost of the accepted firstgrade was very materially enhanced. To an outsider there would appear to be no valid reason why cheese crates or boxes to carry tinned meats should be made of the best timber when third-class timber would be just as strong and suitable, though it would admittedly not look so nice or so clean. He was afraid that many engineers had been guilty of waste in the direction of using first-class timber for forms and in temporary work when an inferior timber might have served the purpose as well, or at any rate, well enough. In connection with our timber there was, however, now a faint .glimmer ,of hope that something might be done, for the Forestry Department had at last been separated from that of Lands and Survey, and an independent and sympathetic Commissioner (Sir Francis Dillon Bell) had taken charge of it. Steps had been, taken to appoint an expert forester, and it was devoutly to be hoped that Parliament would find tho funds to enable our forests to be conserved, demarcated, and worked upon the scientific principles and practices that had proved in other countries that from inferior or third-class lands a timber crop, suitably grown and harvested, would produce more wealth for the country and employ a larger population in producing that wealth than could be obtained from any method of cultivation and grazing. One of the .pp-eatest difficulties that the new forester would have to contend with was, apart from the apathy of the masses, the vested Interests and opposition of tho sawmilling community, who had for so many years had matters entirely their own way, paying so trivial a royalty to the State that waste had not been dis-

couraged, if, indeed, it had not been actually encouraged by the faulty system in vogue. It was to be- hoped that such a new system might be installed, and that whilst increased planting of trees might be encouraged, our natural forests could be regenerated so that our valuable native trees might be grown for the benefit of those who would come after us. With the huge and increasing demand throughout the world for paper pulp and the rapidly diminishing world forests from which it could be supplied', it appeared certain we would shortly be dependent for our own requirements upon our own timber growth. Thus a new industry would spring up in this country, involving the manufacture of chemicals and the utilisation of oar water supplies and water powers —thus finding more employment for our engineers."